VMSnith
Snowy Owl
Joined: Nov 27, 2007
Posts: 169
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 Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 10:40 am Post subject: Attwood makes public statement in response to petition |
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Attwood has made a firm public statement that Aspies do NOT make bad partners and parents, nor are they
any more prone to be violent.
This came in response to a recent petition
objecting to Attwood's involvement with two NT/AS relationship support groups, FAAAS and ASPIA. (Well, technically it came right after the petition, anyway. Tony doesn't mention it.) These groups had both published material which claimed that Aspies are prone to be abusive and damaging to the NT's close to them. Attwood frequently collaborated with these groups. The Aspie community was objecting to Attwood lending his credibility toward what was perceived as hate speech.
from http://www.faaas.org/doc.php?29,358 :
| Quote: | Tony Attwood, Ph.D.
A Word from Tony Attwood
"I would like to state quite clearly that having a diagnosis of autism or
Asperger's syndrome does not render a person automatically incapable of
being a good partner and parent. Indeed, many of the people I know with
autism and Asperger's syndrome as clients and friends are exceptionally good
parents and partners. Should a separation occur between partners and a
Court examine the issue of custody of children and access then in my
opinion, any decisions should be made on the basis of the abilities of each
parent and not simply assume that a parent with autism or Asperger's
syndrome is incapable of being a good parent.
The term "Cassandra Affective Deprivation Disorder" has been coined by
Maxine Aston. It is not an official diagnostic category. I do know that
stress within a relationship between an adult with Asperger's syndrome and
their partner can lead to the neurotypical partner having signs of a
clinical depression. Effective relationship counselling by a counsellor
knowledgeable in the area of autism and Asperger's syndrome can
significantly improve the relationship and help alleviate the signs of
depression.
According to my knowledge, there is no research to suggest that people with
autism and Asperger's syndrome are likely to be violent in a relationship to
any greater degree than a typical person in the general population. I do
know that a significant proportion of the clients that I see in my clinical
practice express to me their concern in their ability to manage their temper
but we now have programs such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to help those
with autism and Asperger's syndrome manage feelings such as anger. Problems
with anger management also occur in the ordinary population but the nature
of the treatment of difficulties with anger management must include an
appreciation of the different experiences and cognitive profile of someone
with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
I have presented workshops for FAAAS for couples where one of the partners
has a diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome and in all my presentations, I have
approached the issues in a very positive way examining strategies to make a
successful relationship."
by Tony Attwood via email, May 8, 2009 |
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sartresue
Radical Aspergian
Joined: Dec 19, 2007
Posts: 6750
Location: The Castle of Shock and Awe-tism
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| Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Attaboy, Attwood topic
Tony wrote this in his book The Complete Guide to Asperger Syndrome. I hope he stands by this and disconnects himself from what he was purported to have said.
_________________
Radical Aspergian
Awe-Tistic Whirlwind
Phuture Phounder of the Philosophy Phactory
NOT a believer of Mystic Woo-Woo |
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westernwild
Deinonychus
Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 323
Location: The wild, wild West
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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This statement is nothing but vamping bullshit on his part until and unless he completely disassociates himself with, and no longer presents workshops for, the likes of FAAAS, ASPIA and similar hate groups. Period.
And FAAAS and ASPIA are not "support groups for NT/AS relationships." They are nothing more than hate groups perpetuating and promoting hateful stereotypes and damaging policies, period.
_________________
Queen of the anti-FAAAS. FAAAS does NOT speak for me and many other families!!
Life is not about waiting out storms, but learning to dance in the rain-Anonymous |
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CanyonWind
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 12, 2006
Posts: 1881
Location: West of the Great Divide
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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Hey, give the guy a break. He's got a great program for preventing alcoholism and drunk driving.
At least he does if he waters down his drinks half as much as he waters down his lame-ass excuses.
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They murdered boys in Mississippi. They shot Medgar in the back.
Did you say that wasn't proper? Did you march out on the track?
You were quiet, just like mice. And now you say that we're not nice.
Well thank you buddy for your advice...
-Malvina |
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westernwild
Deinonychus
Joined: Oct 13, 2007
Posts: 323
Location: The wild, wild West
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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| CanyonWind wrote: | Hey, give the guy a break. He's got a great program for preventing alcoholism and drunk driving.
At least he does if he waters down his drinks half as much as he waters down his lame-ass excuses. |
Better not let Jelibean see our comments on this thread!!!!!
_________________
Queen of the anti-FAAAS. FAAAS does NOT speak for me and many other families!!
Life is not about waiting out storms, but learning to dance in the rain-Anonymous |
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opal
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 23, 2007
Posts: 939
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| CanyonWind wrote: | Hey, give the guy a break. He's got a great program for preventing alcoholism and drunk driving.
At least he does if he waters down his drinks half as much as he waters down his lame-ass excuses. |
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HarryWilliams
Sea Gull
Joined: Apr 07, 2008
Age: 115
Posts: 226
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| Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:53 am Post subject: |
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realpolitik or moral cowardice?
Either way, Attwood's time of being everyone's best friend is over. |
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CelticGoddess
Lost in a song
Joined: Feb 07, 2006
Age: 38
Posts: 2968
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| Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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| I have no problem saying I'm a fan of Attwoods. I've talked to him on several occassions and he's done a lot of good in our area for getting schools to see the child, not the dx, and work on helping them reach their full potential instead of shuffling them off in a SpEd class and slapping more labels on them. |
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CanyonWind
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 12, 2006
Posts: 1881
Location: West of the Great Divide
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| Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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I gotta love all these personal testimonials. Kinda like what George Bush said about Putin, "I looked into his eyes and I saw his soul," or all those women who went off with Ted Bundy because they could tell he was so sincere and caring.
I'm glad you told me how much Tony Attwood cares about the education of aspie kids. I don't have much of any way of knowing about my aspie daughter's education, and there's not much point in me having an opinion about it because I have more say about the Bangladesh Post Office than I have about my children's education.
It's totally illegal, but Tony Attwood and his friends don't have to worry about things like laws. Who cares about the law or some aspie guy when there's more money to be made getting brain dead estrogen junkies to lie and piss and moan about how aspies are so "abusive?"
There's no reason for Tony Attwood to care about my aspie daughter, since she's too young to have a credit card.
_________________
They murdered boys in Mississippi. They shot Medgar in the back.
Did you say that wasn't proper? Did you march out on the track?
You were quiet, just like mice. And now you say that we're not nice.
Well thank you buddy for your advice...
-Malvina |
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BarbaraJ
Emu Egg
Joined: May 20, 2009
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| HarryWilliams wrote: | realpolitik or moral cowardice?
Either way, Attwood's time of being everyone's best friend is over. |
Harry, we worked together very well, and perfectly in tune, on the 'autism monster' campaign in the UK against the demonisation of a child with AS on television campaign by Action for Children. And, as you will recall, Tony Attwood gave the first and spontaneous fierce public statement about this, calling the campaign 'brainwashing'. It was very forthright. I recall that at the time everyone was spurred on by that honesty and open condemnation from the world expert, to offer their own support of the campaign we ran, between us. It worked. The campaign, with Tony's clear condemnation which encouraged others to condemn it, finished the ad thing a week ahead of schedule, and they never used the third of the prepared shoots.
So now 'Attwood's time of being everyone's best friend is over' ?????????
What's that all about?
Tony and I waited for you on Cambridge train station for over an hour. You didn't turn up. We gave up on your protest. It didn't materialise. Did it? |
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beau99
Logophile
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Joined: Nov 06, 2007
Age: 26
Posts: 1436
Location: PHX
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:04 am Post subject: |
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| westernwild wrote: | This statement is nothing but vamping bullshit on his part until and unless he completely disassociates himself with, and no longer presents workshops for, the likes of FAAAS, ASPIA and similar hate groups. Period.
And FAAAS and ASPIA are not "support groups for NT/AS relationships." They are nothing more than hate groups perpetuating and promoting hateful stereotypes and damaging policies, period. |
I honestly don't see anything wrong with what Mr. Attwood said. Leave him alone. I respect him very much and there is nothing that you or anyone else will say that will keep me from respecting him.
_________________
My site: Thoughts of an Autistic (last updated August 2009) |
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BarbaraJ
Emu Egg
Joined: May 20, 2009
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| beau99 wrote: | | westernwild wrote: | This statement is nothing but vamping bullshit on his part until and unless he completely disassociates himself with, and no longer presents workshops for, the likes of FAAAS, ASPIA and similar hate groups. Period.
And FAAAS and ASPIA are not "support groups for NT/AS relationships." They are nothing more than hate groups perpetuating and promoting hateful stereotypes and damaging policies, period. |
I honestly don't see anything wrong with what Mr. Attwood said. Leave him alone. I respect him very much and there is nothing that you or anyone else will say that will keep me from respecting him. |
Thank you. And some need to access the ASPIA website, to see what changes have been made there. And not by threats - by negotiations.
More will happen soon, I promise, in its own time. But this can't be done by threats of violence, or stalking, which has happened so far. It's got to stop. Please. |
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EvilZak
Blue Jay
Joined: Nov 30, 2007
Posts: 89
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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| CelticGoddess wrote: | | I have no problem saying I'm a fan of Attwoods. I've talked to him on several occassions and he's done a lot of good in our area for getting schools to see the child, not the dx, and work on helping them reach their full potential instead of shuffling them off in a SpEd class and slapping more labels on them. |
The thing is this campaign isn't an attack on Tony Attwood as a whole, it's an attack on Tony Attwood's association with FAAAS. If he has his name removed from their "Professional Advisory Board", then I think most of us will be glad to declare him a valuable supporter of the autistic community again (depending on how long this thing goes on). As you can see here (http://www.faaas.org/doc.php?17,9,,341718p,faa256063,,,Index,map.html), he has not yet done so.
The public statement he has made is not sufficient - his name is still being used to promote the viewpoints he claims to oppose, by offering FAAAS a legitimacy it does not deserve. He could change this with a word. He has chosen not to.
I have no idea what Barbara's talking about when she mentions "threats of violence or stalking", unless she considers taking signatures at his conferences to be "stalking" - This has been an entirely civil campaign. I actually managed to talk to Tony personally about the issue, and it was a discussion with no bad feeling on either side - although getting him to commit in writing to some of the things he said in person has been difficult... |
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BarbaraJ
Emu Egg
Joined: May 20, 2009
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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| EvilZak wrote: | [
I have no idea what Barbara's talking about when she mentions "threats of violence or stalking", unless she considers taking signatures at his conferences to be "stalking" - This has been an entirely civil campaign. I actually managed to talk to Tony personally about the issue, and it was a discussion with no bad feeling on either side - although getting him to commit in writing to some of the things he said in person has been difficult... |
Good. You haven't got a clue about Harry's agenda - even though you've read it on here. Clearly.
Tony has no problem, at all. Nor have I.
Threats of violence - do you want the now cleared threats from Harry's blog?
Shall we start with this one:
"The right question is not where's my Aston hatchet job; it's, where's yours?
So don't get cute with me Jacobs or I'll kick your arse in an entirely non-metaphorical manner." |
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EvilZak
Blue Jay
Joined: Nov 30, 2007
Posts: 89
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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| BarbaraJ wrote: | | EvilZak wrote: | [
I have no idea what Barbara's talking about when she mentions "threats of violence or stalking", unless she considers taking signatures at his conferences to be "stalking" - This has been an entirely civil campaign. I actually managed to talk to Tony personally about the issue, and it was a discussion with no bad feeling on either side - although getting him to commit in writing to some of the things he said in person has been difficult... |
Good. You haven't got a clue about Harry's agenda - even though you've read it on here. Clearly.
Tony has no problem, at all. Nor have I.
Threats of violence - do you want the now cleared threats from Harry's blog?
Shall we start with this one:
"The right question is not where's my Aston hatchet job; it's, where's yours?
So don't get cute with me Jacobs or I'll kick your arse in an entirely non-metaphorical manner." |
The blog's been deleted - which means that it's not possible to confirm or discuss any claims made about it.
Besides which, this petition was organised by Ari Ne'eman, with campaigns relating to the petition being organised through ASAN. Harry's agenda just simply isn't part of the discussion. |
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